Sherlock Holmes and the Rune Stone Mystery

October 4, 1999
For the third time (after, most recently, Sherlock Holmes and the Ice Palace Murders), Holmes and Watson make their way to Minnesota and team up with savvy St. Paul saloonkeeper and sometime detective Shadwell Rafferty. The year is 1899, and reports of the discovery of an ancient stone telling of Viking explorers coming to what is now Minnesota has caused an international stir. Sweden's King Oskar II wants the stone back in his country if it is genuine. As fate would have it, on the very day Holmes and Watson arrive, the farmer who uncovered the stone is murdered, "his skull split down the middle like a ripe watermelon," and the stone taken. The friendly rivalry between Rafferty and Holmes has evolved into almost a partnership. Millett handles Holmes and Watson well and is definitely in his comfort zone with Rafferty, a thoroughly engaging character. It doesn't matter if Holmes ever really came to Minnesota or if the Rune stone was genuine or fake. The way Millett tells the tale, readers will be happy to take his word for it.